David of Sasun

Sasuntzi Davith folk epic

Armenian folk epic dealing with the adventures of the Christian king David of Sasun in his defense against infidel invaders from Egypt and Persia. The epic was based on oral tradition that presumably dates from the 8th to the 10th century; it was widely known from the 16th through the 19th century and was finally written down in 1873. It is composed in poetic lines of irregular length arranged...